


CONNECTION

by kingstoken



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Abuse, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Physical Abuse, Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2019-02-07 18:12:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 3,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12846723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kingstoken/pseuds/kingstoken
Summary: It shouldn't take the end of the world to connect to someone, thought Shane.  He'd had plenty of girlfriends before this and a few buddies, but the only one he'd felt really connected with was Rick.  So, it surprised Shane when he met Carol.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> In this fic Rick is awake when the zombie apocalypse occurs and travels with Shane and his family to Atlanta.

It shouldn't take the end of the world to connect to someone, thought Shane. He'd had plenty of girlfriends before this and a few buddies, but the only one he'd felt really connected with was Rick. So, it surprised Shane when he met Carol. He had fled King County with the Grimes family, heading towards Atlanta, hoping to find refuge. They had met Carol and Sophia on the road. That first night, after Carl and Sophia had fallen asleep, Carol told them her story. How the dead had gotten into her home and how Sophia and her had escaped, but her husband didn't make it. Afterwards, when Carol had settled down for the night, Shane, Rick and Lori discussed it and they decided that Carol and Sophia should become members of their group. Others soon followed and they found a safe place to make an encampment, at the edge of a quarry.

Rick looked after Lori and Carl and it just seemed natural that Shane would take the same role with Carol and Sophia. He showed Carol how to use a handgun and some basic self defense. Carol showed him how to take a variety of strange can goods and turn them into something that was not only edible but delicious. Carol seemed a little skittish at first, but she soon grew comfortable with his presence. 

In the evenings, after Rick and Lori had disappeared into their tent, Shane would sit at the campfire and talk to Carol, he would tell her about his life before. He often found himself telling her amusing stories, about him and Rick getting into trouble when they were kids, just to make her laugh. She didn't laugh and smile enough in his opinion. Carol didn't talk about her husband, which was to be expected, but she did tell him about her life with Sophia.

A few weeks in, at least Shane thought it had been weeks, time tended to blend together, he made his move. He expected rejection at first, but Carol was receptive, and returned his affection. From that point forward, whenever Shane wasn't completing tasks for the group, Carol and him were inseparable. Lori would occasionally watch Sophia so they could have some alone time together. Shane wasn't quite sure if Sophia understood his relationship with her mother, but she knew that Shane was her mother's friend and she accepted that. Shane showed Sophia how to tie knots and how to fish. And, after awhile their lives settled into a pattern of normalcy, or as normal as it could get with the dead walking the earth.


	2. Chapter 2

One morning Rick came up to Shane

"Hey, there's a new guy that wants to join the camp." They were pretty open about letting people stay, but after the Dixon brothers had joined, especially Merle who was particularly obnoxious, they tried to vet people first. Rick, Jim and Shane went to talk to this guy, he was a single middle aged man, stocky build. He diligently answered all their questions and seemed fairly non-threatening, but Shane didn't like him, something seemed off about him. The three of them discussed it and Rick and Jim were able to bring Shane over to their side. So, they decided to allow this man to temporarily stay in the camp. They brought him in to introduce him to the rest of the group. When they approached all the color drained from Carol's face.

"Ed?" she asked incredulously. Ed, as in her dead husband Ed.

"Carol? So this is where you got to, after you ran off and left me for dead." The rest of the group just stood in shock.

"I didn't leave you for dead, the place was overrun, I had to get Sophia to safety."

"Yeah Sophia, where is the little rugrat?"

"She's right over there" Carol said indicating Sophia who was partially hidden behind Lori. Something was very wrong here, shouldn't Sophia be happily running towards her father, and what type of man publicly berates his long lost wife, that he must of thought was dead or in danger.

"Hey sweetheart, come say hi to your old man" called Ed. Sophia reluctantly left Lori's side and went over and hugged her father. Ed then pulled Carol into the embrace. She gave Shane a desperate look over Ed's shoulder. Yes, something was definitely wrong here.


	3. Chapter 3

As the day wore on Shane watched Ed and Carol closely. He couldn't say he liked what he saw. Ed seemed to expect Carol to fetch and carry for him. Sophia stayed away from her father altogether, playing with Carl and Morales' children. At one point Carol wasn't paying attention to Ed and he grabbed her arm, a little too forcefully for Shane's liking. Ed must have felt eyes upon him, because when he looked up and saw Shane's gaze burning into him, he released Carol's arm. Shane wanted to talk to Carol privately, but never got the opportunity. He also wanted to slap Ed up side the head, but he refrained from doing so.

That evening he continued his surveillance, but when Ed and Carol went inside Carol's tent together he couldn't take it anymore and stalked off. Rick followed him. Shane stopped at the tree line and tried to take a few deep breaths.

"Hey man, I'm sorry" said Rick "this situation sucks. I know you and Carol were getting really close." Shane didn't want his sympathy.

"Doesn't it seem a little weird to you, how they acted this morning?"

"It was a little strained, but I figured that was because of how they left each other."

"That's another thing, what kind of man gets angry at his wife for saving his child's life? Plus, Sophia looked scared and Carol gave me an almost panicky look."

"Maybe she's just worried her husband will find out about you and her."

"Maybe, but even if she is worried about that shouldn't she still be relieved or a little more ecstatic that her husband's alive. And, you saw Sophia she didn't want anything to do with him. When you woke up after being shot we could barely stop Carl from crawling all over you."

"Okay, lets say your right, what are you thinking? Possible DV." DV was a short form they used on the force for domestic violence.

"I don't know man. That's probably it but I don't want it to be." Shane cupped his head in his hands "I'm so screwed up. If they were a happy family I'd still be just as miserable, but at least Carol would be happy."

"If it is abuse what are we going to do about it? It's not like before."

"First I got to talk to Carol, alone, I tired to today, but Ed was always around."

"Alright, Glenn and I are going on a run tomorrow, I'll ask Ed to come along."

"Thanks man." With a plan in place they returned to camp. Shane crawled into his sleeping bag and tired not to think of Carol in another man's arms.


	4. Chapter 4

Ed refused to go on the run. The day after that Rick tried to enlist Ed's help in building a new latrine, but Ed declined. Dale tired to schedule Ed for a watch shift, but Ed pretty much told him to get lost. Shane held back, watching and waiting for a moment to speak to Carol.. Ed was always around, a dark presence hanging over Carol. If Carol talked or laughed too much with Lori and Jacqui a sharp word from Ed and she was subdued once more. Shane was frustrated, he restlessly paced the camp looking for distraction from his thoughts, but he could never bring himself to wander too far from Carol.

One day Merle approached Ed, Shane was far enough away that he couldn't hear exactly what was said, but Merle's volume and fulsome hand gestures were enough to let anyone know that Merle was on one of his rants. Shane thought he heard Merle say something about Ed not pulling his weight. A few moments later Rick approached him.

"Ed's agreed to do perimeter checks tomorrow."

"Really?"

"Really. You know people will agree to almost anything to get Merle to shut up."

"How did you get Dixon to do that?"

"I offered him what was left of my pain meds."

"Rick" Shane said in protest.

"Hey, it's no big deal. I've hardly needed them the last few weeks. However, we may have to deal with a loopy Dixon for awhile."

"I'll deal with him, I owe you one."

"Yes, you do, but I am more than happy to have you deal with the Dixon brothers."


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning after Ed left with Rick, Shane went over to Carol.

"We need to talk." Carol looked over her shoulder "He's not here. He's on perimeter check with Rick." Shane lead Carol behind the RV, where they could have a modicum of privacy. When they stood facing each other Shane didn't know where to begin. He wanted to pull Carol into his arms, but that wasn't an option.

"How are you?" he settled on asking.

"Fine."

"Ugh" Shane ran his fingers aggressively through his hair "Carol you are not fine. Does he hurt you?"

"What? Why would you ask that?"

"Because you run around like a scared rabbit."

"I'm just worried. It's a lot to take in, your husband coming back from the dead. I'm also worried that he'll find out about us."

"You can stop worrying about that. Nobodies going to say anything to Ed. Their your friends, they care about you. I care about you" he said touching her forearm, she flinched away.

"Carol?"

"I'm fine.' He grabbed her wrist and pushed up the arm of her long sleeved t-shirt. There were bruises, black and blue smudges against her pale skin. He checked her other arm it was the same. Shane felt fury building inside him, but he swallowed it down, not wishing to scare her.

"He did this to you." It wasn't a question, but Carol nodded in the affirmative. 

"I tired that move you taught me, the one where you can free yourself from somebody's grip. It made him angry, he wanted to know who taught me such a dirty trick."

"And?"

"I told him that Rick taught me." Shane breathed heavily.

"You can't stay with him."

"He's my husband, the father of my child."

"He's dangerous, to you and Sophia. We'll force him out, make him leave."

"He'll just come back. You don't know him."

"Carol ..."

"No Shane, listen, I can handle Ed" she put up her hand when it looked like Shane was going to say something "I protected Sophia before this, and I'll keep doing it. Now I need to get back before he returns, and I'm sorry but I can't speak to you again." After she walked away Shane slammed his fist into the side of the RV.

"Hey" yelled Dale, sticking his head out of one of the RV's windows.

"Sorry Dale, sorry" Shane mumbled as he stalked away.


	6. Chapter 6

When Rick returned he sought out Shane, he could tell things hadn't gone well because of the vein jumping at Shane's jaw.

"Well?" Rick asked anyways.

"It's worse than I thought. He's beating her."

"Shit." They stood there in silence for a moment, Rick's expletive lingering in the air. "We'll make him leave."

"I already suggested that to Carol, she says no, that he'll just come back. And, what if he takes Carol and Sophia with him? The two of them alone out there, he'd be no protection."

"Then we separate them, tell Ed he can't go near them."

"Come on man, that was hard enough to enforce before the world went to shit." They had both seen perps disregard restraining orders and walk right up to their ex-wives and hurt them, or worse.

"Then what the hell is the plan?" Rick said in frustration. 

"I don't know, Rick. I don't know." Rick might've been angry that Shane was yelling at him, if it wasn't for the fact that he could see tears gathering in his eyes. Shane turned away from him. Rick squeezed his shoulder.

"I sorry, brother. We'll think of something."

"I'll think of something, Rick. I just need a little time."

"Okay" he said said rubbing Shane's shoulder for a moment "Okay" and he left Shane alone, to contemplate pain that shouldn't exist in a world already full of horror.


	7. Chapter 7

Days past and all Shane could think about was Carol and Ed, Ed and Carol. It was like his brain was stuck in a repetitive loop. He'd think of an idea, discard it, then come back to to it again. Ed was a danger to Carol and Sophia, Carol and Sophia were members of the group, therefore Ed was a danger to the group. Walkers were a danger to the group, walkers got put down, but Ed wasn't a walker.

Shane watched Carol from the far side of the camp. The only good thing to come from the situation was that Ed was finally contributing to the group. Ed was now aware that the group wouldn't tolerate him sitting on his ass all day. This gave Carol a little more freedom, a little bit of breathing space. She seemed less tense. Shane's eyes searched her for signs of physical abuse, he couldn't see any, although she could be covering them up. The bruises on her arms must have faded because she was wearing a tank top today. Carol seemed a little lighter. At lunch time she even smiled at him, when she passed him a bowl of food. He smiled back until Carol glanced away. That smile, that moment gave him hope, and he was able to shut his mind off for the rest of the day. He slept well that night, the first time in a long while. Unfortunately it didn't last.

The next morning Carol emerged from her tent wearing a long sleeve t-shirt and a scarf wrapped around her neck. The early morning was still, you could already feel the mugginess in the the air, today was definitely going to be a scorcher. There was only one reason Carol could be dressed in such a fashion. Shane watched her move, where as yesterday she seemed light, today she seemed brittle. As Shane got closer he saw her blinking back unshed tears. Ed hadn't come out of the tent yet, so Shane reached for her hand. She held his hand tightly for just a moment, before releasing and turning to Lori. Lori wrapped an arm around Carol's shoulder, throwing a worried look over to Shane before leading Carol away.

The morning meal proceeded normally. T-Dog tired to engage Shane in conversation, but gave up when he got nothing but one word responses. Rick and Glenn were discussing the run they were going on that morning. Carol and Sophia were at the other end of the picnic table sandwiched between Carl and Lori. Ed was sitting in a lawn chair near by, scarving down his powdered eggs, like he didn't have a care in the world. 

After breakfast everyone dispersed to go about their chores. Ed was on perimeter check with Daryl. Shane knew from experience that Daryl didn't like to stay in pairs and would go off on his own. When they left, Shane followed, it was time that him and the bastard Ed had a little talk.


	8. Chapter 8

Shane followed them into the woods a ways, and as he expected Daryl split off from Ed traveling to the left while Ed went to the right. Ed traversed through the woods, knife in hand, looking for walkers. Shane shadowed him for a while until some noise must have alerted him to his presence. Ed spun around and Shane made himself known.

"Hey." 

"Hey" responded Ed, lowering his knife to his side "what are you doing out here?"

"Wanted to talk to you."

"About what?"

"Carol."

"Forget that, my wife is not up for discussion."

"She damn well is. Did you think, in a camp this size, that none of us were going to notice? She could barely function this morning."

"You don't know my marriage, you do not understand the situation."

"I don't need to understand." Shane took a few deep breaths to keep himself from yelling at Ed. He decided to try to appeal to his logical side. "Look, if those things infiltrate the camp, and Carol's hurt, she won't be able to get away, or care for Sophia." Ed snorted and turned away.

"Yeah right, like your motives are purely altruistic" he said under his breath.

"Hey. Hey, what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Shane said chasing after Ed. Ed stopped and turned around.

"It means that I see how you look at my wife." Shane didn't respond at first, he couldn't deny it.

"Carol's been nothing but loyal to you since you got here."

"And what about when I wasn't here? Huh? Were the two of you up to something then? Did she spread her legs for you?" Shane tired to breathe, he clenched his fists. He could feel it building, the fury.

"I should have known" continued Ed "she always was a bit of a slut." Without any conscious thought Shane slammed his fist into Ed's face. Ed staggered back, but then he lunged at Shane with the knife. Shane grabbed Ed's arm smashing it against a tree, causing Ed to drop the knife. Then Shane punched him again, Ed fell backwards and Shane was on him, hitting him again and again and again. The fury was riding him hard, blinding him to all else.

Eventually Shane became aware of growling noises. They'd attracted a walker, it was a short distance away. He looked down at Ed who was knocked out cold. Shane got up and staggered a few steps away, he took a lung full air, then he kept walking.


	9. Chapter 9

There was a small stream that ran down towards the quarry. Shane stopped there and tried to wash off the worst of the blood on his hands. He should be feeling something, but all he knew was that the fury had dissipated. There was a niggling thought in the back of his mind, a worry about how Rick was going to react, but he was too exhausted to let himself consider it right now. 

Shane wondered back to camp. When he emerged from the trees he felt that everyone should be staring at him, but in reality no one was paying him any attention. The new latrine had been dug and most of the camp was helping to build new outhouses. When Shane wandered over T-Dog passed him a hammer, so Shane got to work, letting the repetitive motions clear his head of all thoughts. At some point the group must have stopped for lunch, but Shane kept working.

"Rick" Daryl's voice rent the air. Shane hadn't even been aware that Rick had returned from his run. Shane watched Rick approach Daryl, he thought he heard Daryl say "we've got a problem" then the two of them walked into the woods. A short time later they returned, Rick went over to Carol and spoke to her quietly. Carol made a keening sound, and Lori took her into her arms. Rick came over to the rest of the group.

"Ed's dead" he announced "it looks like walkers got him." The group suddenly hummed with conversation, but Rick's eyes focused solely on Shane. Shane just looked away

* * *

Shane was able to avoid Rick for most if the day, but later when the camp settled down for the night Rick finally got Shane alone.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" Were the first words out of Rick's mouth.

"Nope."

""Come on, Shane. You know I'm going to need more then that. Daryl says you followed Ed and him into the woods. He didn't say anything to you at the time because he figured it was none of his business. But, when he found what was left of Ed's body, he thought, you know, that might be important." Shane took a moment and considered what he was going to say. He knew Rick, and that Rick tended to see the world as a little more black and white than Shane did.

"Shane?"

"Daryl's right, I followed Ed. I wanted to talk to him about Carol."

"And?"

"It didn't go well. Things got pretty heated. I ruffed him up a bit." Rick closed eyes for a moment, taking a couple deep breaths. 

"I can't believe I need to ask you this, but I'm gonna have to. Shane did you kill Ed?" Shane looked Rick directly in the eye.

"Rick, I being completely honest with you, when I left Ed he was still alive." Rick released a pent up breath, the tension drained out of him.

"Okay then, I'll explain things to Daryl, and then we can put this all behind us. As Rick turned away Shane called his name.

"Rick, I'm not sorry he's dead."

"I know. Maybe the walkers did us all a favor for once."


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning they buried Ed. A crew had begun digging a grave late yesterday and had finished in the early morning light. After breakfast the group gathered around and watched Ed's cloth draped remains be lowered into the ground. Dale said a few words about remembrance and redemption. Carol was surprisingly stoic throughout the service, her hand on Sophia's shoulder. Her tears must of been spent the day before.

Afterwards, everyone returned to their daily chores, but in a more subdued manner, except for Rick and T-Dog who stayed behind to fill the grave. Shane went over to the quarry's edge. Someone came and stood beside him, it was Carol. They looked out at the beauty of a world gone wrong.

"I don't know what happened, and I don't want to know. Just one thought plagues me, did I just exchange one monster for another?" Part of Shane wanted to scream at her, how could she possibly compare him to that scum of a man. But, another part of him understood. She had to protect herself and her child.

'You haven't. If you don't want anything else to do with me, then I'll respect that. At least I'll know that you'll be free." Carol didn't respond, she just turned and walked away. And, a pain like Shane had never felt washed over him.

* * *

The next morning Shane sat, head in hands, at the the picnic table, trying to work up an interest for his food. The night before he had drunk down the dredges of an old bottle of whiskey. It wasn't enough to get him drunk, but his head still felt heavy. Then a feminine hand plopped down a glass of orange drink in front of him.

"I wish I could tell you it was freshly squeezed" said Carol " but, I can't. It's powdered." She sat down next to him on the bench, their thighs touching.

"Aren't you going to eat anything? she asked. He took a sip of his drink. Then he gave her a small smile, she smiled in return. The connection was still there, and that gave Shane hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not sure if this my best work, but I just had one thought I had to get out of my head: what if Shane had been with Carol and Sophia instead of Lori and Carl. And, of course that thought turned into this story. Thanks for reading!


End file.
